Building an Empire
by Vol lady
Summary: AU – Follows Making a Rancher. Although Jarrod and Nick have learned to adjust to their roles in Tom's chain of command, the railroad changes everything.
1. Chapter 1

Building an Empire

Chapter 1

Early 1870

Victoria Barkley rode out to where her husband and sons were tending the herd of now 600 prime head of beef, to watch them work together, to see again how things were coming along. Because they were coming along well, the ranch and the other enterprises growing by leaps and bounds since the war ended. Since her oldest sons had settled into their roles as their father's second and third in commands. Since they had grown used to each other.

Oh, it had its rocky moments. Nick and Jarrod had butted heads with some frequency when it was decided that Jarrod would be Tom's second in command, the one to learn about and be ready to take over the whole operation, including how the ranch was run. After all, Nick was just turning sixteen at the time and was feeling his way into adulthood, and Jarrod had just returned from the war, minus his left arm, and taken the place Nick expected to have. Not that Nick hadn't given it up willingly – he had, because even at the young age, after talking it out with his brother, he knew it had to be him who made the sacrifice, to help his brother adjust to the reality the war had left him with.

As Nick grew out of his teen years and into young adulthood, he knew Jarrod taking over had made sense, too. He had settled into being more the outdoor workman and less the overarching rancher, the third in command rather than the second. He'd become less interested in the associated businesses and more interested in the ranch itself, the cattle, the orchards, the other crops – everything that the ranch produced. Even though he still kept up with what was going on everywhere, Nick was happy for Jarrod to take over things like the winery and the gold and the accounting, and over time he was having less trouble with Jarrod calling the shots even over the ranch operations when their father was not around.

Jarrod was nearly twenty and just home from the war in 1863. All his dreams of being a courtroom lawyer were cut off when that left arm was cut off at a battlefield hospital in Maryland in 1862. Maimed lawyers were not popular in courts, because people did not like looking at deformities, and juries sympathized and appeals were being granted. The firm Jarrod was reading law with told him outright they would not train him to be a courtroom lawyer. Jarrod was crushed, because he could never be what he called a "glorified clerk." He gave up the law, and he came home. He struggled with Nick and he struggled with his lack of an arm and he struggled with who he was supposed to be now, but ultimately things began to settle down. Tom and Jarrod – and Nick – decided Jarrod should be the second in command. He was more suited to handle the business as a whole. Nick would be third, of more use in the field – and happier in the field as it turned out.

Squabbles and rocky moments became fewer and fewer over time. The last real disagreement had come two years earlier and was more between Nick and Tom, when Nick decided he wanted more authority over the men in the field. "I think I've earned it," he said to his father. "I'm with them all the time. You and Jarrod are spending a lot of time on the other businesses these days. I think I ought to have more say out on the range."

Tom hemmed and hawed over that request, but Jarrod said, "What do you mean?"

"Hiring and firing," Nick said flatly.

"No," Tom said. "That's my say."

"Wait a minute," Jarrod said. "Father, Nick has a point."

It was tough to see who was more surprised, Tom or Nick, when Jarrod said that.

Jarrod went on. "He's with them all the time. He knows who works out, and he's getting a good idea of who will work out if somebody asks for a job."

"Jarrod, who we hire and fire is always going to be my decision," Tom said.

"But maybe we ought to be deferring more to Nick's experience," Jarrod said. "I'm not saying give the final decision up to Nick, but I am saying we ought to hear him out before we hire or fire anybody, and we ought to be giving his opinion a whole lot of weight."

Tom literally chewed on that, while Nick smiled. It felt so good to hear his big brother backing him up. Tom looked from one of them to the other and finally gave in. "All right. We'll try it."

It worked, so well that now, Tom's yea or nay was almost a rubber stamp on what Nick wanted to do. Now, with Jarrod twenty-six and Nick twenty-two, they had pretty much grown into their adult roles. And now, when a new threat to the empire and to the entire valley began to rear its ugly head, the squabbles disappeared entirely. Now the Barkleys were circling the wagons, together and with their neighbors, against a massive land grab by the ever increasingly powerful Coastal and Western Railroad.

But the ranch still had to be worked too, and right now Victoria was enjoying watching it happen. Tom came riding up to where his wife sat on her horse, up on the ridge where she could see everything. "Hello, darling."

"Hello, Tom," Victoria said. "The herd looks good."

"It is good," Tom said. "We'll be ready to go to market when the time comes."

"That's still some time off," Victoria mused. "Are you still planning to go along?"

"Yes, I'd like to."

"Have you talked to Jarrod yet about staying behind?"

Tom said, "Not yet, though I'm sure he's expecting me to. He usually stays here if I go, and he knows I want to go."

"There will come a day you'll have to give up the drives entirely."

"I know. That's why I want to do it while I still can. And Nick and I could stand some time together. He likes to show me he can run a cattle drive, and he doesn't really get a chance to run it when Jarrod is there. That older son of yours can get a little bossy." Tom winked. "Takes after his mother."

Victoria knew he was teasing and laughed. "They both belong to both of us, Tom. Part you, part me. You're still happy with how they're working out together, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," Tom said. "They don't even complain about each other much anymore. Well, my love, I want to get back to work. We'll be in by five."

"All right," Victoria said. "I have to get back and get ready to fetch the kids home from school. Whose idea was it to have two more when the first two were practically raised?"

Tom laughed. "You've always blamed it on me. Wanna make some more?"

"No!" Victoria said, half laughing, half serious. "We have ways of making sure that doesn't happen now when we get – amorous. Remember?"

"Mmmm," Tom said. "No. Maybe you can show me later tonight."

Victoria gave him a wicked smile and turned toward home.

XXXXXXX

Victoria didn't like at all what she was seeing when she arrived in Stockton to fetch Audra and Eugene home from school. There were quite a few strangers in town, harsh-looking and hard-acting men she didn't know. Her first instinct was to gather her children into the buggy with her and get out of there, but as she waited for them to come out of the school, the sheriff, Harry Lyman came by on horseback. He tipped his hat.

"Mrs. Barkley," he said. "How are you today?"

"Fine," Victoria said. "Just came for my children. Say, Harry – who are all these men?" She nodded toward a group of four who were heading into the saloon. "I don't know them."

"I don't either," the sheriff said. "There are three or four more just like them, new in town. So far they've been behaving."

"Has the railroad sent them?" Victoria asked, a growl in her voice.

Most women around town wouldn't have even thought to ask the question, but Victoria Barkley was not only an intelligent woman. She had an intelligent husband who knew what was what and didn't hesitate to discuss it with her. And Victoria did not hesitate to talk about her own concerns. "It could be," Sheriff Lyman said. "Nobody from the railroad checks with me unless they want something from me, and so far no one has. It could be they're just drifters passing through, I don't know. But I'll keep an eye on them."

The children were beginning to pour out of the schoolhouse, so it was time to end that particular conversation. Victoria just said, "I'll mention them to Tom. I'm sure he'll talk to you if he's concerned."

"I'm sure he will," Sheriff Lyman said and moved on.

Audra and Eugene scampered to be the first one in the buggy beside their mother. Eugene won on this day when he gave Audra a last minute shove. Victoria immediately raised a hand up and stopped him before he could climb in. "That's not the way you treat a lady, Eugene. You stay right there. Audra will sit next to me, and you will learn to mind your manners."

Audra gave a smug grin as she climbed in and Eugene climbed in behind her. "Wish I had a brother," Eugene grumbled.

"So do I," Audra said, full of sarcasm.

Eugene started to punch her. Victoria said, "I'm not having any of this behavior on the way home. You both keep your hands and your opinions to yourself, or I'll put you out and make you walk."

"Yes, ma'am," they both said and meant it. They didn't like to walk, and they didn't like it when they had to ride slowly because the other one had to walk.

They behaved all the way home, where they scampered upstairs and tried to beat each other to the wc to clean up. "Ladies first!" Victoria warned her youngest son.

Eugene hated it, that it was always "ladies first," but he slowed down and let Audra go on ahead of him.

As soon as they were out of sight and earshot, Victoria started thinking about what she was going to say to Tom about the men she'd seen in town. They bothered her, a lot, even if they didn't seem to bother the sheriff yet. Trying to set it aside, Victoria went into the kitchen, where she found Silas cutting up vegetables for dinner. "A good beef stew, I hope, tonight, Silas," she said with a sigh.

"Yes, ma'am, as you asked for this morning," Silas said. He noticed the sigh, but he was not one to ask about things like that. If one of the Barkleys wanted to talk, they'd start the conversation.

"Would you like some help?" Victoria asked.

Silas pointed to a piece of beef on the cutting board by the sink. "You might cut that up into little pieces, Mrs. Barkley."

Victoria didn't always insist that meals be prepared so that Jarrod didn't have to use a knife and fork – because with only one arm, it was impossible for Jarrod to do that. But more often than not, if she could come up with something that wasn't awkward for him, that he didn't have to ask for help with, she would do it. It worked better for the children, too. They didn't mind not having to cut their food up.

As she began to cut the meat up, Victoria said, "Can we have a bread pudding for dessert, Silas? Mr. Barkley loves your bread pudding."

Silas smiled. He had a delicious recipe that didn't take all that long to make. "I will put some together, Mrs. Barkley."

Victoria wasn't really sure why that dessert came to mind, but it felt like more than the regular desire to please her husband. It seemed extra special that she do that tonight.

They worked together in silence then, until Victoria could hear her men coming in the front door. She excused herself and went out to greet them. She had a kiss for her husband as her sons took off their gloves and hats and put them in the hallway. Nick shed his gunbelt, and even Jarrod had figured out how to handle the job one-handed by leaning back against the wall to hold the back of the holster against his body so the gunbelt didn't just drop onto the floor. Both of them were a bit dirtier than Tom since they had been actually working with the herd, not just overseeing like Tom had been, so they headed upstairs straight away.

Victoria took her husband by the arm and led him into the parlor. "Tom, I wanted to talk to you about something I saw in town today when I went to get the children from school."

"What's that?" Tom asked as they headed for the refreshment table.

"Strangers, very rough men," Victoria said. "Harry Lyman said there were about seven of them in town. He didn't know if they were just drifters, but I got a very bad feeling about them."

Tom stopped pouring his drink when Victoria described them. He looked at her, suspicious, and even angry. "Railroad goons."

Victoria nodded. "I got the feeling they might be hired guns."

Tom finished pouring his drink with a sigh. "It's not like we haven't been expecting it."

"Some of the other ranchers and farmers have probably noticed them, too," Victoria said. "I think you'd better get together soon."

"Jarrod has a head for organizing men like this. I'll get him to ride out tomorrow, get people to come over here the morning after, talk about what we need to do." He sighed again. "God, I wish it wasn't coming to this."

"Maybe it isn't," Victoria said. "Maybe when the railroad sees we aren't just going to give into them – "

Tom shook his head and sipped his drink. "Ah, Torie. You know how powerful men can be when they want something. They don't let a little opposition stop them. No, my darling, I'm afraid we might be in for it."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Tom usually saved his more serious conversations with Jarrod and Nick for the time after dinner, when Victoria took the younger children to bed. So, it was normal to retire to the library with brandy and cigars to talk, but on this night, Tom wandered out onto the verandah. Nick followed along with his brandy and cigar. Restricted to dealing with one at a time, Jarrod left his brandy behind and took his cigar, and he was the one who asked first, "What's troubling you, Father?"

Tom took a puff and said, "Jarrod, I need you to go to the other ranchers tomorrow and get them to come here in the morning, the day after. Your mother learned something in town today that's troubling."

"Railroad," Nick said immediately.

Tom nodded. "She saw several men she suspected were railroad goons."

"What did Harry Lyman say?" Jarrod asked.

"He didn't know who they were. I'm going to go into town tomorrow and see what I can find out. Nick, you have the ranch."

Nick nodded. Jarrod said, "I'll head out first thing. It'll probably take me all day to see everyone. What time do you want them here, Father?"

"Eight in the morning," Tom said. "If your mother is right and the army is forming, the trouble could come fast."

"The railroad will try some legal maneuvers first," Jarrod said. "I'll check tomorrow and see if anyone's gotten any notices from them."

"Pay or vacate?" Nick asked.

"Or something like that," Jarrod said.

Tom could read his eyes. You could always read Jarrod's eyes, unless he really wanted to keep you from it. Jarrod was thinking hard about those legal maneuvers. After all these years, he still thought about the law and how it could help or hurt them. "I'll see our lawyer while I'm in town, see what our legal options are. We need to get out of the gate faster than the railroad does on this, if we can."

"You think we could get into a shooting war on this, don't you, Father?" Nick asked.

Tom nodded. You could always read his eyes, too. "When the goons are coming in, you know that's why they're coming in. Jarrod, you'll have to alert the ranchers that things might come to that."

"I think once they hear the railroad rabble is here, they'll be alerted with or without me," Jarrod said. "But I'll start getting them ready. We can plan things out better when they all get together here."

Jarrod was the only one who had ever been in a shooting war, and Tom could see he was not relishing being in another. But there was something he knew he'd have to talk to Jarrod about if things came to a fight, and that was that Jarrod could not be in it. With only one arm, he couldn't shoot a rifle, not as rapidly as would be called for, and he'd never be able to reload a six-shooter fast enough either. Tom didn't know if Jarrod realized that. At the moment, all he could see was that Jarrod's eyes were freezing up at even the thought of being in another battle, and it probably had nothing to do with whether he could shoot fast or not. It had to do with memories. That was another reason for holding him out of the fight. And there was more, much more.

But talking to him about that could wait until later, until they knew for sure the fight was coming.

XXXXXXX

Tom took Audra and Eugene to school the next day and went to the sheriff's office after leaving them off. Sheriff Lyman had just poured himself a cup of coffee, and he offered Tom one, but Tom declined. "I need to talk to you about the men Victoria saw yesterday."

"I thought you might," the sheriff said. "No, I don't know if they're working for the railroad yet. I tried talking to them yesterday, but they were tight-lipped about why they were here. I suggested they not hang around too long if they didn't have a reason for being here."

"Did you check with the court and see if the railroad was up to anything there?" Tom asked.

Sheriff Lyman shook his head. "Not yet. I thought I'd give it a day or two."

"Well, Jarrod's out asking around, seeing if any of the ranchers have gotten any notices from the railroad about anything. He'll be back tonight and we'll see."

"Tom," Sheriff Lyman said, "you know, if the railroad gets the court behind them, I have to defend what the court says they can do. Even if I hate it."

"I know," Tom said. "And if that's the case, Harry, we may end up on opposite sides of the fence. But you know I'm not gonna let the railroad just gobble up whatever they want. The other ranchers aren't going to let them either."

"I wish you'd go about this differently. I wish you'd go about it legally."

"I am. I'm off to see our attorney now. I'll try everything I can to avoid a fight, Harry, but I've never been one to turn away from one if it comes."

"Well, before you get too het up and wanna fight, you'd better realize this could be a bigger and hotter fight than you've ever had to deal with, and you'd better take a hard look at where your son's left arm used to be," Sheriff Lyman said. "Jarrod's the one who knows what shooting war really is. We've never had anything on any big scale around here, and I don't want it now. Nobody around here wants to see men getting killed or maimed."

Tom nodded. "I don't want it either, but I'm not going to let thieves take what we've worked so hard to build, just because they want it and don't want to pay for it."

Tom left then, tired of talking with the sheriff about it because it was getting heated and he didn't want to argue. He went to the office of the family's attorney, a man named Millard Woods. He'd been taking care of them for a long time now – he was the one who inspired Jarrod to study the law in the first place. He had a solo practice and a comfortable office near the courthouse, and Tom found him there behind his desk, writing. Woods's secretary let him in, and Woods smiled and stood up, extending his hand, as the secretary left and closed the door.

"How are you, Tom?" Woods asked.

Tom shook his hand. "Fine, fine. It looks like we might have some problems to address, though."

Woods looked unhappy. "You don't have to tell me. Everybody's talking about them."

"I'm trying to think of every way I can to avoid a shooting war and still keep the railroad from robbing me and my neighbors, Mill," Tom said and sat down. "Help me out here."

Woods sat down behind his desk. "I checked at the court yesterday. The railroad hasn't filed anything at all yet, but that doesn't mean they haven't sent threats out."

"Has anybody come to you saying they'd gotten one yet?"

"No. And it's entirely possible this rough crew who showed up in town doesn't have anything to do with the railroad."

"I wouldn't bet on that."

"Neither would I."

"I've got Jarrod out talking to the neighboring ranches today. We'll know more when he gets in tonight, and I'm going to have everyone get together at my place at eight tomorrow morning. Can you come?"

"Tomorrow, no, I can't. I have court at nine. But I should be free after five. I can come by then."

"Come for dinner. It's been a while. We can talk about what Jarrod's found out."

"I'll check with the court again tomorrow, to see if the railroad has filed anything."

Tom nodded and stood up. "I'm going to go talk to the newspaper."

Woods frowned. "Why?"

"I want to get the jump on all this," Tom said. "I want to see if they'll do an editorial for our side. They did the last time when the railroad rattled their sabers, and it helped. The railroad went away, at least for a while."

"They may have only gone away to regroup and hire their help," Woods said. "I wouldn't count on an editorial being a lot of use this time, if these men in town really are working for the railroad."

"Mill, truth be told, I'm not counting on anything in particular. I'm just trying to do the best I can for me and my neighbors."

Woods nodded. "I'll know more this evening. I'll talk to you then."

Two of the rough-looking men Victoria had seen came out of the café across the street as Tom came out of Woods's office and headed for the newspaper. They saw him, they watched. One of them said to the other, "That's him. That's Barkley. He's the figurehead around here. He's the one Jordan's been talking about."

"Old man," the other fellow said.

"Maybe old, but word is he's tough, and he's got sons."

"Maybe a son and a half. One of them lost an arm in the war. He won't be much help to them."

"Hard to say. Those Barkleys have a reputation. They didn't build that empire of theirs by being pushed around."

The other man looked at him. "The railroad doesn't push without big fat engines behind them. Barkley's met his match."

"Well, if he hasn't yet, he will when the rest of us get here. I hear they've hired the big gun they want. He should be here anytime. He'll cut the head off pretty fast."

"That's the way to do it. Cut the head off right at the beginning, and the snake dies."

The other man nodded, and they went on their way.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jarrod was the last to come through the front door that evening. Everyone else – Audra and Eugene included – were already gathered in the living room, talking and relaxing. Tom immediately came to his oldest son as Jarrod was leaning back against the hallway wall to take his gunbelt off, then hanging it and his hat in the hallway.

"What did you find out?" he asked quickly, quietly.

"Perkins and Powers have already gotten notices from the railroad, pay or vacate. They've got a week to come up with the money. Everybody will be here in the morning. What did you find out in town?"

"Not a lot. The railroad hasn't started any legal proceedings yet, and nobody knows for sure those are railroad goons in town, but everybody seems to think they are. And three more goons have shown up."

Jarrod heaved a sigh. "Just what we need. A shooting war." And he felt a terrible ache when he said the word "war."

Tom said, "It's gonna be tough to stop it if the railroad is determined to take land."

"I know," Jarrod said. "I could use a drink. Maybe you and Nick and I can talk about this more after dinner."

Jarrod headed for the living room and the refreshment table, with Tom right behind him. Jarrod exchanged looks with Nick that told him basically what he had just told his father. Nick looked very unhappy, and when Victoria saw what was happening, she became very unhappy, too. Jarrod poured himself some scotch, then went to his mother who was sitting on the settee with Audra, and gave his mother a kiss.

"You must be tired," Victoria said.

Jarrod sat down in the armchair nearest the fireplace. "I am. How are the ragamuffins today?" he asked, smiling at Audra.

She protested. "Jarrod, I'm far too old for you to keep calling me a ragamuffin."

Eugene, near the fireplace with Nick, said, "He only calls us that so you'll fuss at him, Audra."

Jarrod chuckled. Audra was twelve now, going on thirteen. Eugene was a year younger. Jarrod knew darned well they were too old to call ragamuffins, but he couldn't help himself. He liked the protests he got when he teased.

Eugene was sorely tempted to call his oldest brother "the one-armed wonder," but he knew that would not work out well with him or anybody else around here. When he thought about it, even he realized it was a touchy nickname.

They talked about mundane things through their social hour and dinner – the herd, the homework, the fact that it looked like it was going to rain tonight. After dinner, Victoria sent Audra and Eugene up to their rooms to finish their homework and get ready for bed. They were old enough now that she did not need to help them in any way. Victoria often left the men to talk business among themselves in the library after dinner while she caught up on some reading or sewing, but tonight, she wanted to be with them. She had to know what was going on, what Jarrod and Tom had found out. She was worried.

The rain started as they were gathering. A roll of thunder went by. "That sounds fitting," Nick said.

Jarrod explained about the notices two of the ranchers had gotten, and Tom told everyone about his visits with the sheriff, the lawyer and the newspaper.

Victoria asked, "What do you intend to say to the ranchers in the morning?"

Tom heaved a sigh. "What can we say? We explain what we know, we see what we all want to do."

"We can offer to have our attorney take care of any legal maneuvers," Jarrod said. "That will take some of the pressure off the rest of the ranchers."

Tom nodded. "Good idea. Jarrod – do you think you can act as a liaison with the lawyer? You've at least some notion of what all that legal talk is about."

Jarrod nodded. "If you can spare me around here while I handle it. It shouldn't take up all my time."

Tom said, "I wouldn't think so."

"We still have cattle and horses to tend, and everything else," Nick said.

"Tom, there's a letter for you over there on the desk," Victoria said. "It's from the army. I'll bet they want some beef or horses."

Tom went to the desk, found the letter, and opened and read it. "They'll take fifty horses if we can get them to Modesto in two weeks. Jarrod, Nick, what do you think?"

The Barkley sons looked at each other. Jarrod said, "I wouldn't see a problem except for this thing with the railroad."

"It'll blow up before two weeks, if it does blow up," Nick said.

Jarrod nodded. "They've already threatened Perkins and Powers to pay or vacate in a week."

"But they haven't started legal action," Tom said.

"It'll blow up anyway," Nick said. "I wouldn't want to send men on a drive if we're going to be at war up here."

"I think we better turn the army down, Father," Jarrod said. "Nick's right. We can't make the commitment."

"I hate to do that," Tom said. "Let me think on it a day or two. We'll know more pretty quickly, I'll wager."

Jarrod and Nick looked at each other, and Victoria looked at them. All of her men were worried, it was easy to see. And they had reason to worry. Things could happen very fast and be out of their control in a matter of days. "When does the army need a response?" Victoria asked.

Tom said, "They want word in a week."

"If things are going to break loose around here, they'll do it by then," Nick said.

"Probably even before then," Tom said. He heaved a sigh. "All right. We talk to the ranchers in the morning, we get a consensus, we decide what we do. We touch base with Harry Lyman and Mill Woods every day at least, and we be ready for anything, anytime."

"Do I need to take Audra and Gene out of school?" Victoria asked.

Tom nodded. "For the next few days, anyway. Better safe than sorry."

It was a rotten way to live, but sometimes it was the only way to survive. Everyone nodded to Tom's decisions, but everyone also thought privately, _and God help us all_.

XXXXXX

A man came into Harry's saloon, straight out of the pouring rain, not even bothering to shake off his rain slick. He just headed for the bar and asked for a whiskey. Three of the railroad men were seated at a table, and they looked his way. They knew exactly who he was – Jordan's go-to man, the man who would do whatever Jordan asked regardless of the danger, legal or otherwise. The hired gun they were expecting to come into town.

The man paid no attention to anyone, even as he heard the talk behind his back. He was not ready to do any coordinating with anybody yet. He usually worked alone anyway, and any other men the railroad had hired and had hanging around him could just follow what he was doing or get out of his way. He gulped down his whiskey and ordered a second one.

Harry, the owner and bartender, assessed what was going on with this new guy and with the other patrons in the room. The locals looked nervous. The men everyone had decided were railroad goons looked happy. Bit by bit, the locals wandered out. Harry didn't expect any trouble, but he made sure his shotgun was handy anyway.

And he was happy to see Sheriff Lyman walk in, even if he was as wet as the newcomer was. Harry motioned the sheriff to the far end of the bar with his eyes. They met there in a moment, and Harry said, "The fella in the rain slick. I think he might be big trouble."

Sheriff Lyman looked around, doing his own assessment. "All right, listen up," he said out loud, very out loud. Everyone but the newcomer looked at him. When he noticed the new man was not looking his way, the sheriff moved a little closer and spoke directly at him, though loud enough for everyone to hear. "This is my town," he said. "I won't be taking any crap from anyone about anything, anytime. I don't care why you're here or who sent you, if anyone did. Behave yourselves at all times and you won't get any grief from me, but start being a threat, and you won't get away with it for long. Am I understood?"

A couple of the goons in the room nodded. The newcomer just kept drinking.

Sheriff Lyman headed for the door, slowing down as he passed the newcomer, saying directly into his ear, "I'm glad we're on the same page."

Sheriff Lyman left, but as soon as he was outside, he looked up at the sky and was thankful the rain had stopped. He swore under his breath and determined that he'd better round up another deputy or two. Things were not going to go well over the next few days.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next morning found the neighboring ranchers gathering at the Barkley mansion. Silas scrambled to find every coffee pot he could in the house, to make sure the men meeting in the library had all that they would need. They were a somber group, worried and scared. Perkins and Powers were the most upset – they were the ones who had been ordered off their land if they did not pay up.

"It's my land!" Perkins said. "I paid the railroad for it five years ago, but now they're saying I was just renting it! How can they say that?"

Jarrod said, "I'll be going into town and I check the land records, but do you have a deed, Jacob? Do you have a deed at your house?"

"Yes! I think – I don't know – "

"I can check the courthouse," Jarrod said. "Do you remember if you had it recorded there?"

"No, I don't remember," Perkins said woefully.

Jarrod looked at Powers. "Mike, did you have a deed recorded?"

"I don't remember, Jarrod," Powers said, only a little less worried.

"I'll check today," Jarrod said. "I'll come by each of your places this afternoon."

They nodded.

"Nobody else has gotten notices?" Tom asked.

"Not yet," Frank Sample said, "but my place adjoins Mike's place on the east. They'll maybe come after me too?"

"Maybe," Jarrod said, "but I don't think they want to run this line over your land. It looks like it's going to be more to the west."

"Is there a way to find that out for sure?" Nick asked.

"I'm going to wire the firm I used to work for in San Francisco," Jarrod said. "They'll know more. I'm also going to talk to our lawyer, Mill Woods, see what he suggests you gentlemen do for now."

"Unless Mill says otherwise, I think you should just sit tight," Tom said. "Don't pay and don't vacate. What time do they say you have to be out by?"

"No time in the notices, just the date, this coming Monday," Perkins said.

"That makes it look like they're not ready to run you off yet, but we'll have men at your place by dawn," Tom said. "Jarrod, can we spare many of our men?"

"We can keep a skeleton crew with the herds," Jarrod said. "Fence repair and stump removal and the like can be put off a few days."

"All right," Tom said. "We'll pool our resources as best we can and have the Perkins place and the Powers place covered at dawn on Monday, unless we find out something more before then."

"Nick," Jarrod said, "would you set two crews up to send to Perkins and Powers?"

Nick nodded. Tom said, "I'll go out with you, son."

The meeting broke up by nine and the ranchers all went back to work. Tom noticed a look in his oldest son's eye as he watched them go. Jarrod seemed to have more on his mind than how they were going to handle the railroad, so Tom asked. "What else is bothering you, son?"

Jarrod grunted, and said, "Sometimes, Father, I wish I had stayed with the law and become that glorified clerk. It might have helped right now."

"You're sorry about the choice you made?"

"No," Jarrod said, "not at all. I like helping you run the business, even working the ranch with Nick. No, I made the right choice. It's just that sometimes, the road you don't take calls anyway. I wonder if I'd be more help now as a glorified clerk than as a one-armed cowhand and businessman."

Tom gave his son a clap on the good arm. "You never know, son. The law might still be waiting for you somewhere down the line."

Jarrod chuckled. "I'll be the oldest man reading law in California. I think I'd better stay doing exactly what I'm doing."

Jarrod headed to town to talk to the family lawyer, wire the firm in San Francisco and check the land records. Tom went out with Nick into the field and they began to seek volunteers to work with Perkins and Powers.

"Well, at least we're set up if nothing changes between now and Monday," Tom said idly to his middle son, after they had chosen the men to go out and maybe face the railroad goons on Monday.

Nick said, "Father, do you think Jarrod's gonna find those deeds in the land records?"

"I don't know," Tom said. "I know I have original deeds to all our lands. I can't believe Mike and Jacob don't, but then not everyone's been as careful as I have."

"If Jarrod doesn't find them, and if Powers and Perkins don't have them – "

"Then Mike and Jacob are in trouble, but that doesn't mean we give them up," Tom said. "The railroad has to have some documentation too. If they don't, then our word is as good as theirs."

"Father – I think Jarrod and I need to be with Powers and Perkins, too, on Monday, one of us at each place."

"Not Jarrod," Tom said quickly. "Not Jarrod."

Nick was surprised, and curious.

Tom said, "With only one arm, he won't be able to fire a rifle or reload a pistol quick enough in a fight. And I'm afraid of a couple other things. He lost that arm in a battle. He might freeze in another battle."

"Father, Jarrod's not the kind of man – "

"I've made my decision, Nick."

Nick nodded. "Have you told Jarrod?"

"Not yet. I'll talk to him when it's time to."

Nick grunted an agreement, a grudging one.

"And there are other considerations, too," Tom said idly, but then he said, "You take over here until Jarrod gets back from town. I'm heading back to the house. I got some other things to attend to."

Tom turned and headed out. The one thing he knew he had to attend to for sure – he wanted to review his will. He was pretty sure it was the way he wanted it, leaving the land and ranch to Jarrod (with a life estate to his wife). All the associated businesses were already in the names of the family members who were over twenty-one, but he wanted to be sure his interests were left to everyone, even the little ones in whatever trusts the law required.

He did not like the way he was feeling about this fight he was sure was coming, and if that will needed changing, he was running out of time to get it changed and filed with the court.

He gave a quick thought to something else – Jarrod's will and Nick's will, especially Nick's. If there was to be a fight, Nick would be in it with him. Nick owned partial interests in the family businesses, a bank account and a piece of property, things Tom had put in his name when he turned twenty-one, as he did with Jarrod. And if Tom died first in this battle, there also would be his bequest to Nick that Nick's will would have to pass on. He decided he'd talk to Nick and Jarrod about wills later in the evening, after he had reviewed his own.

It was difficult to even think about. Tom wasn't sure why – he'd faced plenty of danger before. But for some reason, this time – maybe because he was getting older and this danger was far bigger – he was more concerned about getting out of it alive. And more concerned about what would happen to his family if he didn't. Jarrod and Nick were fine now, having worked out their roles in the family business. Nick seemed content in line behind Jarrod now as far as running the ranch and the empire was concerned, but Tom wondered, if he died, would Nick accept Jarrod as the complete boss over everything, or would Nick feel inclined to lay claim to the ranching end of things? Tom knew that's what Nick really wanted, to run the ranch and let Jarrod have the other businesses, but that wasn't the agreement they had since Jarrod came home. When Tom's time came, the agreement was Jarrod would simply step into his shoes and run everything, while Nick was his back-up. Tom was concerned sometimes that on his death, his sons might start up jockeying for position again. He kept picturing all those old European empires built by brothers killing each other.

He put it out of his mind. There were other things to worry about right now. He'd review his will and make sure that everything was set out just as their agreement years ago said it would be. He would trust his sons to go on without him amicably, because he had raised them to love and trust each other, and because they had worked that out between themselves as well.

Tom spent the afternoon reassuring himself that his will was what he wanted it to be, and before dinner, he told Victoria and his older sons that he had done that. "I want you boys to review your wills, too," he said. "You ought to be doing that at least once a year anyway."

As Nick and Jarrod nodded, Victoria caught her husband's eye. She didn't like having to talk about this, even though she understood the wisdom. She didn't know Tom intended to hold Jarrod back out of any fighting. She didn't worry that she would lose them all – but maybe she did.

That was when Jarrod began to talk about what he'd learned today. "The most important thing – the most dangerous thing – is that neither Perkins nor Powers have any deeds registered in the land records," he said.

"Does that mean the railroad is right?" Nick asked. "They can run the men off their land?"

"Not necessarily," Jarrod said. "It depends on what they have, what their agreements with Perkins and Powers say. But the men got their land from the railroad in the first place, and the railroad's deeds that precede Perkins and Powers are registered. That's not good."

"Did you find out anything from your firm in San Francisco?" Tom asked.

"Not yet, but more men who look like railroad goons have shown up in town," Jarrod said. "It's getting pretty rowdy in there."

Victoria moaned audibly.

"What does Mill Woods have to say?" Tom asked.

"He sends his regrets that he won't be able to come to dinner – something's come up. He says absent a court order, Perkins and Powers ought to stay where they are," Jarrod said. "I told him the plan was to have men out at their properties on Monday. Mill didn't like that very much because he doesn't want to see the shooting start, but he understood a show of force on our part might keep things quiet, at least on Monday. It will probably send the railroad to the courts, though, and then we'll have a bigger problem."

Tom grunted and made his way to the doors that went outside. He looked out there, at his land, at his world. He saw the threat and he saw it expanding, beyond Perkins and Powers. He saw it as a threat to everyone in the valley.

Jarrod and Nick looked at each other, and Nick looked away. Jarrod wondered why – weren't they in this together? He'd intended his look to his brother would tell Nick that they were. Why was Nick looking away? Jarrod got the feeling that something was going on he didn't know about.

Victoria saw everything, in each of her men's eyes.

XXXXXXX

And Monday morning came, far earlier than anyone had planned. Dawn came at about six this time of year, and Tom had planned to have his men assembled by five and out there. Up by four, out by five, at least that was the plan the night before.

One part of the plan Tom was leaving until morning – telling Jarrod that he would not be going. Tom didn't know why he was leaving that until the last minute – perhaps because as convinced as he was that he had a lot of good reasons to keep Jarrod home, he knew it would be tough to tell Jarrod. And maybe, in his heart of hearts, he wondered if it was fair to exclude his oldest from what might end up being the most important day in their lives for years. How would it sit with Jarrod, years from now, if he had to sit this one out? Tom planned to rise a bit early, talk to Jarrod privately, figure it all out before anybody left for the Perkins and Powers ranches.

It didn't work out that way. Pounding came on the front door at three in the morning, getting everybody up, even if no one was really sleeping anyway. Tom threw on his clothes and came rushing downstairs, encountering both Jarrod and Nick doing the same thing and Silas putting on his jacket, heading for the door. "I've got it, Silas," Tom said, stopping him. "Get some food on the table, fast, anything, right now."

Silas hurried back into the kitchen. Behind her husband and sons but in a dressing gown, Victoria nonetheless headed for the kitchen, too.

The man at the door was panting, terrified. "They're coming! They're coming already!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"The railroad?" Tom asked quickly.

"Mr. Perkins had me stay in town last night," the man said. "I saw them all getting together, not half an hour ago. They haven't hit the ranch yet, they might be waiting for light, but they're coming!"

"Get back to Perkins," Tom said. "Have somebody warn Powers."

"Already done," the man said, and turned and left.

Tom saw movement outside in the yard. "Get horses ready! We have to move!" he yelled. He closed the front door, yelling toward the kitchen, "Forget the food! We have to move!"

They looked at each other then, Tom and his older sons, the Barkley men, all responsible for an enterprise, all responsible for the family, all responsible neighbors who were not going to let their community go into the grubby hands of a railroad megabusiness without a fight. But this was not going to be a little skirmish in a backwater field. This was something different, bigger, far more dangerous, and they all knew it. Just as much, they knew it was inevitable. The railroad goons were coming, and they would be shooting.

Tom went into the library where the gun cabinet was located and lit lights. Since he didn't use his sidearm all that often, it was in there with the rifles. As he unlocked the cabinet and opened the doors, his two sons followed him, both of them having fetched their sidearms from the hallway where they hung up, more available than Tom's. After Tom took out his rifle and his sidearm, Nick grabbed a rifle, but Jarrod stopped.

Visions, memories were walloping him in the head. That cornfield, that officer hit by the cannonball, waking up in a hospital without his arm. They were all enough to freeze him solid, but it was something else that was really getting to him. With only one arm, he could not use a rifle. The realization hit him right between the eyes. He was half useless out there in a fight. He couldn't do what it was going to take to beat these railroad thugs back, not with just one arm. He stood looking at the rifles, unable to move.

Tom and Nick both noticed, but to Tom there was almost a sense of relief. Jarrod was recognizing reality. "Jarrod – "

Jarrod blinked and looked at his father.

"You can't go," Tom said.

Jarrod's blue eyes shot flame.

Before Jarrod could speak, Tom said, "Not because of your arm." Then he corrected himself. "Not just because of your arm. This is gonna be bad. Men are going to die out there today. Nick and I might be among them. Jarrod, somebody has to survive, to keep this place going, to keep building this ranch and this business, to keep the family going, to support your Mother and the children." He put his hand on Jarrod's good shoulder. "It has to be you. Not because you don't have an arm. Because you're this family's future. You can keep things going if Nick and I don't come back. You can care for your mother and your brother and your sister and keep building our dream. It has to be you, Jarrod. You have to survive this day."

The fire in Jarrod's eyes died down. He understood what his father was saying, and his father was right. He was the best one to stay here and care for this place and these people, because he knew how to do it. And because he lacked an arm, and would be more trouble in a fight than help. What his father said made perfect sense. Jarrod put his holster down on the nearest table and extended his right hand to his father. "Come back safe, Father," he said.

Tom shook his son's hand, smiling. "I will, son."

Jarrod turned and faced his younger brother. Nick's eyes were resolute, but there was something else there, too. Fear? Not exactly. Just a bit of sorrow, just in case he didn't come back. Jarrod extended his hand. "You watch out for yourself, Brother Nick. We'll be all right here."

Nick shook his brother's hand. "See you at dinner, Big Brother."

Tom and Nick hurried out through the foyer with quick kisses and hugs for Victoria, Audra and Eugene who were now downstairs, still in their bedclothes. Eugene had that "I want to go too" look on his face, but Tom ignored it. He just said, "Look after everybody, boy," and went out, Nick following behind.

They had left the door open. Jarrod came to the door beside his mother, put his arm around her. Audra and Eugene huddled close, and they watched as Ciego gave their mounts to Tom and Nick out there, shadows in the darkness, and the two Barkley men rode away. Bit by bit, other men were right behind them.

Victoria was shivering. Jarrod gave her a squeeze, but he had no words for her. They both knew this was going to be very bad. They both knew, somehow, that this day was going to change everything, and they couldn't do anything but be prepared to take whatever was coming.

XXXXX

It came in a body, covered by a blanket. Scarcely an hour after dawn, the wagon rolled up and Jarrod went out to meet it. Nick, on horseback behind it and leading his father's horse, dismounted. Tears were running down his face. The young man who didn't cry easily was learning that sometimes there was no choice.

Jarrod looked in the wagon. The body there was shrouded carefully. Jarrod uncovered the face for just a moment and looked at his father, and ran his hand over the old man's hair. He closed his eyes. He didn't have to ask what happened.

But Nick said, "They hit us just as it was starting to get light, just as we were starting to be able to see, out on our own property. One man took aim right at Father and only Father and kept shooting until he hit him. He was trying to get some cover in the trees, but I saw him. I shot him, but I couldn't hit him before he hit Father. He murdered Father. They were coming specifically for Father. Oh, Jarrod - "

Jarrod nodded, putting his arm around his younger brother. "One of the wounded men came in about an hour ago and told us. Are you hurt?"

"No," Nick said. "Where's Mother?"

"Inside with the children. I think it's best you go show them you're all right. I'll see to Father."

"We need a coffin," Nick said.

Jarrod said, "I suspected we'd need at least one, so I had some men get started right after you left."

"We need four. We lost three other men, the other ranchers lost six more. Just as many railroad goons are gone, maybe one or two more, but they can take care of their own."

"Is it done for today? Do we need to get other men out?"

"I think it's done. The railroad took a bad hit, too."

Jarrod squeezed his brother's shoulder. "He knew this was coming, didn't he?"

"Yeah, I think he did," Nick said and looked up to heaven, as if he could see his father up there.

"Go on inside. Talk to Mother. She needs to see you. I'll see to Father. I'll have him brought into the library."

Nick dreaded this moment more than he'd dreaded anything in his life, but he nodded and he went into the house.

His mother and the two children were in the parlor, sitting on the settee. They got up as soon as Nick came in, and he could tell he wasn't going to know what to do for them. The despair in his Mother's eyes, the fear in his siblings' faces, was almost more than he could bear. But Victoria came to him and put her arms around him. He put his arms around her, and try as he might he couldn't stop his own tears.

"Are you all right?" Victoria asked.

"I'm not hurt," Nick said. He reached down and touched Audra and Eugene, each one, on the head. "We'll be all right. We'll get through this and we'll be all right."

Audra burst into tears, and Nick put one arm around her while keeping his mother in the other. He looked at Eugene, who just stood there, trying to be brave, trying to be a man.

"It's all right, Eugene," Nick said. "When you want to cry, you go ahead and cry. I'm going to."

Eugene let some tears slip then. Victoria gathered him up into her arm, keeping her other arm around Nick and even Audra to the extent she could, taking a big breath, saying, "We have each other. Your father would want us to remember that. We have each other."

XXXXXXXX

The funeral three days later was out at the site where Tom Barkley had been shot down. Victoria had decided she didn't want the church – she wanted it all right here, where her husband had lived and defended everyone he loved and died doing it. Massive numbers of people came, so many that most of them couldn't hear the minister's words, but they all came for Tom Barkley. Even several men who had been wounded in the fight here came back, for Tom Barkley.

Nick stayed with the children, arms around them all the time. Jarrod stayed at his mother's side through the whole thing, his one good arm around her. As people came up to them to give their condolences, Jarrod kept supporting her. His father's words echoed inside him. _It has to be you. You're this family's future. _He was. He knew that. Running this ranch and building this enterprise, caring for this family and for his community – he now had to be what Tom Barkley had been.

He made it through the horrible day until his father's grave was covered and he saw the family home. Then, after seeing that his mother was comfortably settled with a nap and the children were hugged and given over to Nick to busy themselves with the horses, Jarrod collapsed in the library with a brandy, shaking, cursing that missing left arm for the n'th time. Not that he thought he wasn't up to the task before him. He knew he was. He just knew it would be a lot easier if he had that arm again, and he damned that war and that cornfield in Maryland and the railroad, too.

But he sucked it all in and knew he could keep this business, this Barkley ranch, this Barkley empire, and this Barkley family together and moving forward, just as his father wanted him to. He had long ago made peace with the fact that he was going to be a businessman and a rancher, not a lawyer, and today he was actually glad that his life had taken that turn. He felt very comfortable that he was where he was supposed to be, doing what he was supposed to be doing. _It has to be you_, he heard his father's voice again. He finished his brandy and got up. It would be him. He could do it, even without an arm.

He went out to the stable and found Nick supervising Audra and Eugene as they groomed their ponies. The children were careful and even seemed to be enjoying their chore. Nick was actually smiling, a welcome sight on this awful day. "This looks like it should look," Jarrod said quietly to his brother.

Nick was sitting on a bale of hay, watching. "I reminded them that Father would expect them to keep caring for their horses, and for you and me and Mother."

Jarrod nodded. "Something to do. Something to focus on. How about you?"

"Me?" Nick took a deep breath. "I guess I ought to be out there with the herd, making sure everything's okay. Life has to go on, doesn't it?"

"It does," Jarrod said. "You do what you need to do, but I'd like it if you saw Audra and Gene through their chores here today. It shouldn't take too long."

Nick said, "I was planning to. Do you think I ought to take Gene out to the herd with me?"

"If you think he's up to it. I'll keep an eye on things around here."

"Just let Silas do the cooking," Nick said, and smiled.

Jarrod gave the smile back. "Father would be proud of you, Nick. You've been a rock."

Nick nodded. He wasn't sure, given that he felt more like runny jelly and had since Monday morning, but he said, "I've had good teachers."

Jarrod knew Nick meant him, too. He gave Nick a slap on the back and went back into the house.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It was only a week later that Jarrod went to San Francisco to meet with the law firm he once had read law under. Things had settled down in Stockton. The surviving railroad goons had disappeared shortly after the battle. The Perkins and Powers ranches were still intact, but for how long was anyone's guess. Jarrod didn't want to leave it to guesswork. "I need to find out what they know in San Francisco," he said. "I need to know if there's anything in the wind that says they might be back soon."

He didn't like what he heard. Mr. Elsworth was the partner in the firm who knew the railroad people. He didn't work for them, but he talked to them frequently, and one of the first things he said to Jarrod, after giving his condolences on the loss of his father, was, "They have what they need to build that spur down into the valley. They'll skip the ranches you've been concerned about. They've reclaimed or bought easements on land further west. Word is they had most of that lined up in the first place."

Jarrod didn't get it. "Then why come after us? Why harass our neighbors?"

"For the future," Elsworth said. "One of the men I know, who would never admit any of this out loud, said it was to get your father out of the way for another spur they've planned for the future."

Jarrod boiled over. "Are you saying this was all to deliberately murder my father?"

"And any other opposition to their future plans. Don't go thinking we can get anybody at all indicted over this, Jarrod. From what I understand, the gun they hired to get to your father was killed in the fight, wasn't he?"

Jarrod nodded. "But Hannibal Jordan was nowhere around."

"And he's got layers of protection in this. We'll get him, Jarrod, but not over this. I'm sorry. The only man who's going to pay for your father has already paid."

Jarrod had to swallow it. He burned, but he swallowed it and moved on. "When are they going to be coming again? What's the time frame we're talking about, and where does it look like they'll be coming?"

"The where is still unsettled, but the time frame looks like anywhere from five to ten years. That'll give us some time to fight this in the legislature and the courts, at least."

"I'd rather not have to go to a shooting war again, Mr. Elsworth," Jarrod said.

Elsworth couldn't help but glance at Jarrod's empty sleeve, and remember how he couldn't help Jarrod's dream of becoming a courtroom lawyer come true. "You've already done your part in a shooting war."

"My arm be hanged," Jarrod growled. He got up. "Arm or no arm, if I have to fight, I will."

"Fight with me, Jarrod," Elsworth said. "Just because you're not a lawyer doesn't mean you can't fight with me at the legislature."

"I have a large business to run, too, Mr. Elsworth," Jarrod said, "and a family to hold together. I'm Tom Barkley now."

"Then you better keep your head down, son," Elsworth said. "I have no doubt you can be Tom Barkley. But it won't be long before the railroad loses any doubts they might have. Your father's dead. You need to stay alive and you need to help spearhead the next fight coming. I want to help you do that, and I want you to help me do it."

Jarrod nodded, understanding. "Five to ten years, you say?"

"That's the current timetable. Timetables get changed, but that estimate looks good."

Jarrod extended his right hand. "Then we have time to make moves. Let me talk to my family and my neighbors."

"Don't expect much of anything to happen for the next year or two."

"I won't – but don't think for a minute I've forgotten about Hannibal Jordan and what he's done."

Elsworth looked worried. "Revenge, Jarrod? That's not like you."

Maybe it was and maybe it wasn't, Jarrod understood deep inside himself. His father's murder burned and burned badly, but he said, "Not revenge. Justice, one way or another."

XXXXXXX

_That's my big brother who went off to war,_ Nick thought when Jarrod told him about his meeting with Elsworth, but he didn't say it. He was pretty sure that even though Jarrod had been working his way back to some kind of normal life over the years since the war ended for him, it had been a struggle for him to feel like a man again. But now, taking over for their father completely, gearing up for yet another fight on the horizon, Jarrod was turning into Jarrod again, the Jarrod Nick remembered from when he was a kid and Jarrod was a young man going off to war. Maybe even a better Jarrod - a smarter Jarrod, a Jarrod forged by the years of being their father's right hand man and by knowing he had to take over the helm now.

"What do we need to do right now?" Nick asked.

Victoria was present in the library when they talked. Audra and Gene were off somewhere, doing homework, still too young to take this kind of discussion in. Still too shocked over their father's death, as Victoria knew she was still in shock too. But watching her sons, listening to them plan, she knew by every word they said and every look in their eyes that they were Tom Barkley's sons. She knew Jarrod was stepping into his father's role with no hesitation, and Nick's support for him was 100%. She was so proud it brought tears, because she knew Tom saw what was happening, too.

"We keep this ranch and this whole enterprise going," Jarrod said, "and we make it grow more and more. The bigger and more successful we get, the harder it will be for the railroad or anybody else to run over us and our neighbors. There may be another fight out there, but we'll be stronger than we are now. We'll be a tougher opponent."

Nick grinned. Tell him he was going to have to fight and he was going to be stronger than he was now when the time came to do it, and he was one happy man. "You draw the map, Pappy. I'll help you build the roads."

Victoria smiled.

There came a knocking at the door. "Come in," Jarrod said.

Audra and Eugene came in. "We wanted to say good night," Audra said, and she came to her mother on the sofa, climbing up next to her, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"No school tomorrow," Jarrod said. "Gene, are you up to working with Nick? What are you doing tomorrow, Nick? Fixing fence?"

"Fixing fence," Nick said. "I won't mind having my baby brother along."

"I'm not a baby," Eugene said solemnly.

"Of course you're not," Jarrod said. "Babies don't fix fences."

"May I come?" Audra asked.

Four sets of eyebrows went straight up.

Victoria saved her sons having to say no or else figure out something for Audra to do. "Audra, I was hoping you'd be helping me and Silas tomorrow. The summer rugs need to come out of storage and we need to beat them good before we put them down and beat the winter rugs too before we put them away. It's going to hard work and we need your help, because it's going to take a couple days."

Beating rugs was not Audra's favorite chore. She sighed, but she said, "All right. But Eugene does it come autumn."

Victoria had to laugh, and it felt good. "We'll deal with autumn when it gets here," she said.

Jarrod suddenly felt a bit wicked. He raised his empty sleeve with the bit of arm he had left. "I'd help, but it takes more than one arm."

Everyone saw he had a twinkle in his eye. He seldom talked about his lack of an arm, and never with that look in his eye, but here it was, after all these years.

It was Audra who said, "You'd do anything to get out of beating rugs, wouldn't you?"

Jarrod laughed. "Cheer up, sweetheart. I did my share of it before you came along."

"And so did I," Nick said. "It's a rite of passage around here."

"That means you're becoming an adult," Victoria said.

"Then I'll beat rugs in the autumn," Eugene said quickly. He was more anxious than Audra was to grow up.

"We have a plan!" Jarrod said. "The Barkley empire is on the move!"

_And the torch has been passed, Tom,_ Victoria said silently to her husband. _You did all right, my darling. We did all right._

End of Part 2

Next - Reaching for Dreams


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